8 month little sweetie!

My crazy kiddos that are pretty much just plain awesome! ;)

Wow, we have been so busy and that just makes it seem like time is flying by even faster than it already seems. Today, Ella hit 8 months. Since her last monthly update she has started eating solid foods, is a completely unassisted sitter, and she can even push herself backwards while she is sitting on the floor. While she's on the bed she can go from sitting down to her tummy and then back up to sitting. While she's sitting upright she likes to try and grab things that are just barely out of her reach so I'm sure it will be no time before she starts going down to her tummy while on the hard floor, and then *gasp* she'll be on the road to crawling! Eeek! My baby isn't big enough to be a crawler. She is also my little appendage. Little babe rarely lets me put her down and when she does allow it I pretty much have to be in her sight at close range AND it can't be in the arms of anyone else. If she can't have mommy she most certainly doesn't want anyone else. I know to most people this would probably seem an inconvenience, but I like to look at it that this is the smallest fraction of her life where she's going to want/need me as much as she does. Before I know it she will be up and running around with the rest of the crew and I will just be chopped liver.

Two of my three sweet girls!

There is one up and coming problem though with the dilemma of my extra appendage. I'm started work at the pre-school and little miss is going to be in the baby room while I'm doing so. Her poor teacher is going to have her hands full and I'm just praying that Ella learns that it's ok to stay with others for a little bit and that she's not losing me for good. We've decided that tomorrow will be know as the EllApocalypse  day. Poor thing is going to have it rough, but she's going to have to find some way to cope.

From a different perspective, I'm excited to get out of the house some and into a classroom again. Not quite sure how Addi feels about "Ms. Momma" being her teacher for a few weeks though, haha!

Baby food! I decided to take on the new adventure of making Ella's baby food. So far, so good. Easy peasy, and it's nice to know exactly what is going into her food. After a week or two of oatmeal, we started on the green peas, which she surprisingly took like a champ. Then it was on to bananas, green beans, carrots, apples, plums, apricots, and peaches. At the grocery store yesterday, I bought some yellow squash, butternut squash, and some sweet potatoes. So far we haven't had any bad experiences and I'm happy she's a healthy and hearty eater. She gets so excited for her food and while bounce and bob her head in her chair along with some happy squeals and arm throws. Love this little girl :)

Here are her first batch of green peas steaming and then getting chopped! yummo! Baby food that tastes like the real thing, because it IS the real thing!

Next week, school officially starts (just pre-planning this week) along with ballet for Addi and Alyse. It's almost time to get back to the grind!

And!!! check out this comparison photo of Addi and Ella around the same age. Crazy how much they look alike!

Finally, can't forget about Lysie-Poo. Here she is feeding her baby. It was her excuse to not clean up her mess. Smart kid, smart kid, haha!

7 month baby!

These days, weeks, moths have just been flying by. Sweet Ella Kathryn had her 7 month birthday on 7-11 day! So her big sisters and I took advantage of free slurpee day and had one to celebrate. Who can resists the frozen goodness of a slurpee?

Also, in light of Ella's 7 months of life I FINALLY gave her baby food! Oatmeal! She pretty much ate it like a pro. She was even grabbing the spoon to help bring it to her mouth. Such a big girl. Now, I'm ready to start making her purees and then to move on to self feeding. Making her food is going to be a new adventure since I'm home and have the time to do so. If she's anything like Alyse though she will breeze straight out of the purees and directly to self feeding table foods.

One other little "milestone" for baby Ella within the two weeks or so she's started to wave. It just started as her doing it wuthout purpose but now (if you catch her in  cooperating mood) she will wave back at you and smile. Sometimes, you can even get a double wave.


This past month, we have been quite busy. We had our annual 4th of July party and walk to the fireworks. We went bowling for Doug's birthday. Took a trip to Alexander Springs.  A day of bouncing at Monkey Joes. Addisyn and Alyse took two sessions of swim lessons. Then we've been in and out of pools all summer! I think these two girls are starting to grow fins. Alyse is essentially swimming and Addisyn is on her way to getting over her reservations and swimming too.


The girls have been enjoying all this free time of the summer. They've painted crafts, gone on outside adventures, hit up the park several times, they manage to make the house a war zone everyday (as well as a disaster zone), and staying up late most nights. I think we are all started to get a bit tired of each other though, and it will be nice for the school year to start back up so that we can get back into the routine of school and ballet.

6 months old and Some ballet

June 11, Ella's half birthday. Where did the time go for my baby to be half a year old? It seems as if each day passes faster than the last.

Ella is now sitting up on her own. Not totally 100% of the time, but can hold herself up for short periods of time before she folds over or falls over. The other night I laid her back against a pillow on the couch and then she used those ab muscles and went straight into a sitting position. She still hasn't rolled over yet though. She really has no interest in trying. Here and there she will sleep throughout the whole night, but generally she's up at one point during the night, mostly around 4 or 4:30am. Hopefully she starts sleeping all night soon, because once she is able to pull herself to sitting from laying she won't be able to sleep in the cradle anymore, which means she will have to go to the crib in her room. That makes me nervous.

She had her 6 month checkup today. Looks perfectly healthy. He was impressed with how well she was sitting and the strength she had to pull up to standing while holding his hands. I think he thought I was being a bit dramatic when I told him about her being a Momma's girl and rarely let's me put her down, even just going to go to the bathroom. I also learned that it is now considered safe to introduce high allergen foods between 6-8 months so long as there is no family history of allergies or previous reactions. Apparently it has been decided that the delayed introduction of these foods could indeed be the culprit of the increase of children with such allergies. At this point though, Ella has only ever had breast milk, so I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. Interesting. I also learned that sounds baby makes while learning sounds are the same in every language a baby is exposed to. Essentially, they "all" (as in generally speaking, each child is always marches to their own drum) will start babbling the same sounds in the same order. The sound of M typically being on of the last independent sound made. Thus, explaining why a lot of babies will say dada before mama. Ha! I knew there was some sort of logical explanation! ;)

Ella's 6 Month stats:
15lbs 8oz (50%)
26.25" tall (75%)
17" head circumference (75%)

Comparing to Addi and Alyse at 6 months old:
Addisyn: 14lbs 10oz, 27.5" tall
Alyse: 19lbs .5oz, 28.5" tall

And, holy cow! Can't believe Alyse was pushing 20lbs at this age! Also, looks like Ella has my height genes at slightly above average instead of being ginormously tall like daddy.

Last week, Addi and Alyse had appointments at the dentist. It was Alyse's first trip and she did so well! She wasn't nervous at all and let them just do their job. Addi was the seasoned pro and showed her little sis just how it was supposed to be done. Hopefully trips to the dentist stay this sweet and easy in the years to come!

On Saturday (June 8), Addisyn had her ballet recital. This year, she tapped for the recital even though she was in a ballet/tap class. It was so cute watching them tap their little feet. Her little gold costume was adorable and she was beyond excited to get to wear her stage makeup. The recital is really so much fun for her, and I'm just glad that she gets to do something that she enjoys. Next year, Alyse will get to be in the recital too, although it will be in a separate show. The whole time watching Addi, she kept saying "I can do that!" Such a stinker!

First and last days of school!

Last Wednesday, was Addisyn's last day of school. She doesn't quite understand the whole summer vacation and then moving up to a new class. I believe she's under the impression that she will be going back to her three year old classroom. It will definitely be interesting with the start of the year with all four of us being at the preschool. Ella has just this short amount of time to learn to let other people take care of her         and to take a bottle! Worried a bit about that! I know she'll be in good hands though and I'll be at the school too, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal!

Time for a swim!

Sunday, for my birthday we went out to mom and dad's to swim and for dinner. It was Ella's first time swimming. Let's just say she wasn't quite the Michael Phelps just yet. I think the issue was that the water was still a bit on the cold side. As soon as we stepped down enough in where her feet were submerged, her little toes and legs curled in as far as they would go. The next step in brought us to our waists and she made this tiny little whimper, probably from the shock of it not being warm bath water. I swirled her around and bounced with her for a few minutes, but she much preferred sitting on the sidelines. I'm sure once the water warms some more she will be a little fish!

Addisyn and Alyse, on the other hand, had no issues get right back into the water for their first swim of the season. Especially Alyse. She would just jump right into the water with absolutely no fear. Addi was a tad more cautious, but didn't mind getting in and getting wet. I'm most definitely going to have to sign then up for swim lessons this summer. Hopefully they will let Alyse into the preschool class even though she isn't technically 3 yet!

One thing is for certain though, all three of these girls love their bath time! :)

5 months old!

The day before Mother's Day was Ella's 5 month birthday. She never ceases to amaze me with how much and how fast that she is growing. She absolutely LoVeS to be held, but mostly by mommy. She has most definitely hit the mommy only phase. While I love the cuddles and the snuggles, it can get quite difficult not getting time to breathe on my own, let alone a shower.

She still has rolled over yet and isn't sitting upright either. It seemed that she would roll soon, but she has pretty much haulted any efforts to try since she generally refuses to be put down. Sometimes when I put her down to get something done quickly she will squirm around and roll to her side, but hasn't gone all the way over. She has, however, become quite be wriggle worm and can change into all different sorts of directions while laying in the crib or cradle.

We set her high chair up at the table for her to sit in and watch while we ate dinner, in hopes that maybe she would scream through the meal. It helped some, most nights I can get about 3-5 minutes of her sitting nicely in her seat before screaming her lungs out. I just make the most of the minutes to scarf down whatever I might have that would be able to eat one-handed (ie: foods that need to be cut). 

Ella is still wearing 0-3 month clothes. They seem to be on the verge of being too short, I'm sure Doug will be super excited when I tell him it's time to go in the attic to get the 3-6 month tub of clothes. Lol, he hates trips to the attic ;)

She has also started losing some hair. There are fine little black hairs all the the spot where her head lays in the cradle. If I lay her on my legs, I'll find them on me if I lift her up. And, no! They are not from me! Even though she's losing hair, it doesn't really look like she's lacking, aside from the spot on the back of her head. But, if you look closely along her hairline you can see the blonde(like) hair coming in. So, I still think her hair will turn to match her sisters.

She also loves to be able to watch and see what everyone is doing. If you catch her in a super happy mood she will tell you a nice long story in her adorable baby sound voice. I love listening to her talk :) Normally, if you smile at her she will return an even bigger smile.

We've been busy around the house with the usual. Addisyn did a mini Mother's Day performance at the preschool along with a tea. Doug ordered me some super amazing Sherri's Berries (yummy!) and we made the rounds to visit our grandmothers and mothers. This week, we spent a lot of time at the preschool and Alyse and Ella went to school for two days. Alyse loved it and Ella, well, not so much!

This weekend is my birthday weekend. I'm getting old. Yuck. Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend, then two weekends after that will be Addisyn's dance recital. I also cannot believe that there is only three weeks of school left! She will officially be in Pre-K4 in August, and then Kindergarten. Woah!

A highly anticipated trip to Disney

First off, the girls are pretty lucky to have a [great] uncle who works out at the rat factory and is able to share some tickets on occasion. The girls have been waiting quite sometime to use their tickets, but we had to wait for a weekend that would coordinate with everyone's schedule, so we planned months in advance over which day we would be going. And, it had literally been an everyday conversation about wanting to go to Disney World. They have even been arguing for weeks over which ride we would go on first. They had their whole day mapped out weeks before it was even time to go. Finally, the day came.

We went out to magic Kingdom, for the first time I ever remember, at the park's opening. We were right inside the gates and had a perfect view to watch the park opening show with Mickey and some other Disney favorites riding in on the big steam train. I always knew that they did that as we could hear it from inside the park when I worked there, but never actually witnessed it. Fun. From there is was straight to the New Fantasyland to check out the new Ariel ride. We walked straight on with zero wait. Addisyn started getting a bit nervous walking through the queue since it was walking through a cave. Poor kid was even shaking. Once we got on the ride she was fine though. The ride itself was super cute and just told the story of The Little Mermaid, but the effects and such have definitely been ramped up compared to older ride concepts like the now closed Snow White's Scary Adventure. After getting off the ride we went straight to the grotto where the girls were abel to meet Ariel in mermaid form. It was literally a dream come true for them both. So mesmerized. Addisyn has met Ariel in her human princess dress, but never as a mermaid.

After that, we checked out the new Storytime with Belle attraction. It was pretty neat getting to walk through Belle's childhood house, and then into the Beast's castle where the children were given opportunity to act out a story with Belle. The girls were too shy at the point to volunteer to take a role, but lucky Doug was selected to be one of the knights. You know how thrilled he was, but he was surprisingly a good sport and played along. It was really neat how they had it all set up and really allowed for the kids to interact with Belle. At the end of the story, all the kids got to go up and have their picture taken individually with Belle and got a signed bookmark from her.

Alyse was able to go on the Barnstormer (aka the Goody Rollercoaster) for the first time. I for sure thought that she was going to cry because the look on her face was priceless once it started moving fast. But she didn't! When it stopped I looked over at her and couldn't tell what exactly her reaction was going to be, but then a big smile popped on her face. Success! She even went a second time, so we know she liked it! Little daredevil Addisyn screamed the whole way like a rollercoaster pro!


We also had reservations at the Harmony Barber Shop to have both of the girls' hair cut...Alyse's very first haircut ever. Addisyn went first and just got a trim. This was only her second haricut, her first was the year before on our Disney trip at the same place. She also had the lady pull her hair up and add some pixie dust. Alyse was next and little miss serious just sat there playing with the Minnie Mouse light up toy the whole time. She looked like a big mean bully, and the ladies in there were having a good laugh over how serious the kid is. But, she did well, wasn't nervous or anything. I think the lady actually questioned over whether or not it was truly Alyse's first haircut because her hair is naturally layered. Oh well. Anyways, Alyse got a trim and also some bangs. Then, she also pulled her hair up and sprinkled some pixie dust. It was so strange seeing Alyse with bangs and also with her hair pulled up. It instantly added age to her look and we also thought she looked like a completely different kid. Cute nonetheless.

 

Addi getting ready for her trim!

Cinderella taught them how to pose like a princess ;)

For the rest of the day we just did the general Disney stuff. Met some characters and went on some rides. The girls both loved every minute of it. I started getting a bit worried because Ella spent the day at home with my mom (the first time being away from me for more than a couple hours) and was trying to take her very first bottle. Granted, it was my milk, but the bottle just was not cutting it for her. Mom said she wasn't fussy, it's just that she wouldn't eat. I sent two different types of bottles with her some Tommee Tippe and then a Similac bottle that was given to me as a free sample. Wasn't having either of them so my mom sent Dad to Target and bought a third kind (Nuk) and she finally accepted it.

Rapunzel!

No Disney trip is complete without the People Mover!

Addisyn and I tried pretty much all afternoon to get on both Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain but the stupid things kept breaking. I was so excited to go on Thunder and to introduce Addi to it, I don't even know the last time I was on it! We had fast passes for both, and both broke down. They told us Thunder would be down for hours, and they weren't sure on Splash. We were in line for Splash when it broke, so we just got out. We also had fast passes for Winnie the Pooh, but wouldn't you know that was broken too when we went to go use them. By then, we just gave up and heading out around 6:30. That was one long day at Disney, but it was fun! Nice to spend time with just the older girls too.

Alyse and Doug!

Makes me fear driving lessons with this kid!

4 months!

Little Miss Ella is 4 months old. Woah. She is really such a sweet baby. Full of smiles and mostly relaxed. You can tell she's smiling even from the back of her head. Her eyes can just light up the room. She now is holding her head nice and stable during tummy time, and actually enjoys laying and looking around at all the things across the room. That is unless she's in a don't-put-me-down-because-i-want-to-be-held type mood (which is more often than not). But, when you do catch her at the right time, it's fun to play with her as well as watch her play if I'm lucky enough to take a few steps back.

She had her 4 month checkup at the doctor today, the day after her 4 month birthday. She weighs in at 14lbs 3oz (60%), is 24.75 inches long (75%), and a head circumference of 16inches (50%). Apparently, her ginormous head has completely evened out to perfection, not too big and not too small. At her 2 month checkup is was huge! She's definitely growing into her own skin just as she should.

Really, nothing hugely important was discussed at her checkup, and I didn't have any questions or concerns to bring up. She's to keep on her diet of mommy milk and since she's growing just as she should no need to start with any sort of solid foods. The start of solid foods is such a bittersweet moment for me, so I'm just as happy holding her off on it. It's hard and weird to explain why it is so bittersweet to me, but mostly it's just the signal of her continuous growth and that feeling as she doesn't solely depend on me anymore. Weird, I know. When we do cross the bridge to introducing solids, I am planning on actually making our own food this time around. I never did it with the older two, as I was working, and I didn't want to take away the time that I had with them just to make food. So I'm excited for this new adventure. It's number three, time to try new things :)

Here's some comparisons of Ella to her big sisters at their 4 month checkups:

Addisyn: 12lbs 11oz, 24.75 inches long
Alyse: 15lbs 140z, 26.35 inches long
Ella: 14lbs 3oz, 24.75 inches long

This clearly shows how each child is so different. All three of them only had breastmilk their entire first 6 month of life (well for Ella her first four, and is on the road to six lol), and how varying their weights are/were. I think Ella is moreso our "average" baby. Addi was the itty-bitty, and Alyse the chunker monker!

Last Sunday, Addisyn had Preschool Sunday at the church where she goes to preschool. They sang during the church service and then they had a BBQ and activities afterwards. Both the girls had so much fun playing with the other kids on the playground and in the bounce house. Addisyn, of course, was so very excited to be on the stage getting to sing. She is such a ham. Her teacher had been telling me the last few weeks that she definitely gets into the songs and has some pretty sweet moves. She really did show them off, haha!

Finally, we also had a visitor in the telephone pole along the alley in our backyard. The neighbors were the ones who spotted it first. I've never seen a bald eagle flying around downtown Winter Garden before! Pretty neat!